Mr. Perdue, a Republican, received 22.4 percent of the vote in the GaPundit.com survey of more than a 1,000 Georgia residents. Still, that was less than the 24.5. percent of respondents who said they were undecided.

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Other potential candidates receiving support in the poll include former Republican Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel with 15 percent of the vote and GOP Reps. Paul Broun with 10.3 percent, Tom Price with 9.7 percent, Lynn Westmoreland with 8.4 percent and Tom Graves with 6.3 percent. Current Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp finished last in the survey with 3.4 percent.

“If Governor Sonny Perdue decides to run for the U.S. Senate, he immediately becomes the front-runner, though it’s not a prohibitive lead,” said GaPundit.com Editor Todd Rehm, an Atlanta-based Republican political campaign consultant and pollster.

Mr. Perdue, who served as governor from 2003 to 2011, began his political career in the Georgia Legislature as a Democrat.

Mr. Chambliss announced Friday he won’t run for a third term in 2014, saying he was frustrated with President Obama’s lack of leadership and Washington’s chronic political gridlock.